﻿436 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  nung, 
  of 
  Huang-ti, 
  of 
  Yii, 
  are 
  all 
  three 
  only 
  euhemerized 
  versions 
  of 
  

   the 
  same 
  mythos, 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  hero 
  sent 
  from 
  heaven 
  to 
  establish 
  order 
  

   in 
  a 
  world 
  covered 
  from 
  its 
  beginning 
  with 
  water 
  ; 
  ^ 
  of 
  Shun 
  all 
  that 
  

   we 
  arc 
  told 
  reduces 
  itself 
  to 
  a 
  folklore 
  tale, 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  stepson 
  

   persecuted 
  by 
  his 
  stepmother 
  and 
  her 
  sons 
  but 
  triumphing 
  over 
  all 
  

   their 
  snares 
  and 
  finally 
  marrying 
  the 
  daughters 
  of 
  the 
  king. 
  As 
  for 
  

   Yao, 
  he 
  is 
  but 
  a 
  name, 
  to 
  which 
  not 
  even 
  a 
  personal 
  legend 
  has 
  been 
  

   attached. 
  Of 
  the 
  Hsia 
  dynasty, 
  which 
  commences 
  with 
  Yii, 
  nothing 
  

   is 
  known 
  save 
  certain 
  euhemerized 
  mythological 
  tales 
  about 
  the 
  

   founder 
  Yii 
  and 
  his 
  son 
  Ch^i, 
  and 
  also 
  about 
  another 
  hero, 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  

   Chinese 
  Heracles, 
  Yi 
  the 
  Great 
  Archer, 
  a 
  mighty 
  destroyer 
  of 
  mon- 
  

   sters, 
  who 
  has 
  become 
  artificially 
  connected 
  with 
  Yii. 
  It 
  is 
  only 
  

   toward 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  Yin 
  dynasty 
  that 
  real 
  history 
  commences, 
  in 
  

   the 
  persons 
  of 
  its 
  last 
  kings, 
  who 
  are 
  mentioned 
  in 
  certain 
  recently 
  

   discovered 
  inscriptions 
  on 
  tortoise 
  shell. 
  These, 
  however, 
  cover 
  only 
  

   a 
  short 
  period; 
  thus 
  documents 
  cease 
  again 
  almost 
  immediately, 
  not 
  

   to 
  recommence 
  in 
  continuous 
  fashion 
  until 
  the 
  last 
  years 
  of 
  the 
  eighth 
  

   century 
  B. 
  C. 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  therefore 
  quite 
  mistakenly 
  that 
  confirmation 
  was 
  sought 
  in 
  

   the 
  ancient 
  history 
  of 
  China 
  for 
  theories 
  placing 
  the 
  cradle 
  of 
  Chinese 
  

   civilization 
  in 
  central 
  Shensi 
  and 
  southwestern 
  Shansi. 
  Conrady,^° 
  

   impressed 
  with 
  the 
  fragility 
  of 
  this 
  hypothesis, 
  proposes 
  to 
  seek 
  

   the 
  place 
  of 
  origin 
  of 
  Chinese 
  civilization 
  in 
  southern 
  Shansi 
  and 
  

   northern 
  Honan, 
  on 
  both 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  Yellow 
  RiA^er; 
  it 
  would 
  be, 
  

   according 
  to 
  him, 
  from 
  this 
  region 
  that 
  the 
  Chinese 
  colonists 
  

   swarmed, 
  some 
  eastward 
  into 
  the 
  maritime 
  plain, 
  others 
  westward 
  

   into 
  the 
  Valley 
  of 
  the 
  Wei, 
  while 
  others 
  again 
  went 
  south 
  into 
  the 
  

   basin 
  of 
  the 
  Yangtse. 
  But 
  the 
  area 
  selected 
  by 
  Conrady 
  is 
  singularly 
  

   inappropriate 
  for 
  the 
  role 
  which 
  he 
  assigns 
  to 
  it. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  by 
  chance 
  

   that 
  during 
  3,000 
  years 
  of 
  history 
  Shansi 
  and 
  Honan 
  have 
  always 
  

   formed 
  separate 
  States 
  or 
  Provinces; 
  all 
  the 
  country 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  

   Chung-t'iao 
  Mountains 
  in 
  Shansi 
  faces 
  toward 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  

   Fen 
  and 
  the 
  adjoining 
  alluvial 
  basins; 
  while 
  the 
  northern 
  por- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  Honan, 
  on 
  the 
  contrary, 
  looks 
  toward 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River. 
  

   These 
  mountains 
  mark 
  a 
  clear-cut 
  line 
  of 
  division, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  hard 
  

   to 
  see 
  here 
  a 
  single 
  center 
  of 
  culture 
  diffusion. 
  This 
  difficulty 
  is 
  

   only 
  enhanced 
  when 
  Ave 
  study 
  the 
  relative 
  positions 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese 
  

   and 
  barbarian 
  populations 
  in 
  these 
  Provinces 
  in 
  ancient 
  times. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  Oldening 
  of 
  the 
  historical 
  period, 
  toward 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  

   the 
  eighth 
  century, 
  the 
  Chinese 
  were 
  far 
  from 
  being 
  the 
  only 
  inhabi- 
  

  

  » 
  Henri 
  Maspero 
  ; 
  L6gendes 
  mythologiques 
  dans 
  le 
  Chou-king. 
  Journal 
  asiatique, 
  CII, 
  

   1924, 
  p. 
  47 
  et 
  seq. 
  

  

  »» 
  Conrady 
  ; 
  China, 
  482 
  (Pflugk-Harttung's 
  Weltgeschichte). 
  The 
  same 
  theory 
  has 
  

   recently 
  been 
  maintained 
  by 
  Doctor 
  Erkes, 
  China, 
  28. 
  Doctor 
  Forke, 
  Die 
  Volker 
  Chinas,' 
  

   40, 
  leaves 
  the 
  question 
  open 
  and 
  contents 
  himself 
  with 
  saying 
  that 
  " 
  the 
  oldest 
  seat 
  of 
  the 
  

   Chinese 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River, 
  In 
  the 
  Provinces 
  of 
  Chihli, 
  Shansi, 
  

   Shensi, 
  Honan, 
  and 
  Shantung," 
  

  

  